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Keeps hearing things that aren’t Alexa?

  • 4 November 2017
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42 replies

Userlevel 4
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From my point of view it’s a sonos issue, I have a dot upstairs and it is in front of the tv. I maybe have seen it light up 2 or 3 times a month...where as the sonos had 8 in one hour recently. Try it yourself...say the next episode quickly and I bet she responds on the sonos but not the dot!
Userlevel 1
I've got the same issue and it's infuriating. In today's 30 min local news bulletin the Sonos false triggered eight times to words that don't even vaguely resemble 'Alexa'. If they don't sort this out very soon it's going to have to go back.
My Dot, which is in the living room, has been set with the "wake" acknowledgement ding, since I had it connected to a PLAY:5 for quite a while. I can tell you that it often "dings" awake with the TV on, and only occasionally responds with a nonsensical phrase like "I don't know about X" or whatever the phrase is. Sometimes, it just dings awake, and then is silent. There's actually a folding partition between where it is and where I'm sitting, so I can't see the lights around the top of it. Its keyword is Echo, not Alexa. It seems to be more active during (US) football games than anything else, but that may equally be that I'm watching a lot of it these days. I don't have numbers to track activations on drama shows versus sports shows.
I agree with Bruce in that this may be more of an Alexa problem then just Sonos One. It is probably more noticable with the Sonos skilled enabled since you hear the ducking. Previously, a dot wouldn't do anything to disturb you, whatever you were doing, during these false alarms.

I've noticed int more since gettng an echo show. I don't know if the show is worse at this than the dot, but I turned on a recognition noise (whatever it's called) and the show dings all the time.

These feels like a Catch-22 situation. I'm sure the mics are not sensitive enough in some situations, yet too sensitive in others. It ideally should be tuned to each room. That would make the simple to use tool more complicated.
Userlevel 4
Badge +4
My echo dot never worked once like that and they are all in the same rooms as the dots were... I think the programmers need to spend more time on this like Amazon did.
Userlevel 6
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May or not be connected: but my Alexa dots have become infuriatingly hyper-responsive since the Sonos integration. Random wake-ups, answers to non-questions - very annoying.

Of course there's no way to attribute cause & effect .... just saying. 😃
Userlevel 7
Badge +20
I was involved in the Private Beta testing of the Sonos 1's and there were several changes to the wake word sensitivity during the testing. This a defiantly a software setting on the Sonos server side and was improved each time - although improving the wake word sensitivity also by definition increases the volume of 'false' wakes.
I have this problem with all of my Amazon Alexa devices. Constantly. I think it has to do with the Amazon software for voice recognition, since I don't own a Sonos One. And I've very carefully not let it be "Alexa", with all of the random commercials using that keyword.
Userlevel 3
Badge +4
They released this product way too soon.
I agree. I wish they could issue an assurance that the problems will be fixed by software updates. I'm not convinced that there isn't a problem with the microphones themselves.
Userlevel 4
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I've got THREE new Sonos ONEs, and all three of them are going back to Best Buy. What a DISASTER it's been for me with these things constantly waking and responding to absolutely nothing. They released this product way too soon.
Userlevel 4
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Alexa wakes up all the time when Bloomberg TV is on... Barely a "Brexit" or "earnings expectations" goes by without Alexa waking up, and I swear Alexa has got a thing for Vonnie Quinn, as when she is talking, Alexa does not shut up...
Ironic that it wakes up when it shouldn't, and sleeps when it should wake up.


Yes same for me, very annoying!
Userlevel 2
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Alexa wakes up all the time when Bloomberg TV is on... Barely a "Brexit" or "earnings expectations" goes by without Alexa waking up, and I swear Alexa has got a thing for Vonnie Quinn, as when she is talking, Alexa does not shut up...
Ironic that it wakes up when it shouldn't, and sleeps when it should wake up.
Userlevel 4
Badge +4
Have a look at https://en.community.sonos.com/amazon-alexa-and-sonos-229102/sonos-one-alexa-esp-support-6791835/index1.html#post16162206
It does not seem to be recognised as a problem.


The most annoying thing for me is it keeps hearing things on the TV that arnt Alexa with the sound source being Sonos so surely they can fix that element?
Userlevel 3
Badge +4
Have a look at https://en.community.sonos.com/amazon-alexa-and-sonos-229102/sonos-one-alexa-esp-support-6791835/index1.html#post16162206
It does not seem to be recognised as a problem.
Userlevel 4
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I've got that issue too. It's even worse if you've got 2 Sonos Ones in the same room: sometimes they chatter to each other!

Yes I am in exactly the same situation as you...surly this is something that can be fixed? I have asked support lots of things my dnever had a reply though so not sure if they are aware or not!
Userlevel 3
Badge +4
I've got that issue too. It's even worse if you've got 2 Sonos Ones in the same room: sometimes they chatter to each other!